Indian Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar

Indian Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar

In honor of "Lata Mangeshkar, the nightingale of India" who lent her legendary voice to Indian cinema for more than 70 years, a state funeral was held on Sunday after she passed away at the age of 92. After over 28 days of Covid-19 diagnosis, Lata Di died today at 8:12 a.m. due to multi-organ failure, Mangeshkar's doctor, Pratit Samdani, told reporters outside Breach Candy Hospital.

About Lata Mangeskar:

An Indian playback singer and occasional composer, Lata Mangeshkar was a leading playback singer throughout her career. Her talent and influence in music are widely regarded as one of India's greatest. Over a career spanning seven decades, her contributions to the Indian music industry earned her appellations such as the Nightingale of India, the Voice of the Millennium, and the Queen of Melody. Her songs were recorded in over 36 Indian dialects and a few foreign languages, though she mainly sang in Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. Through the years, she was given several awards and accolades.

The Government of India awarded her the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987. The Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, was awarded to her in 2001 as a recognition of her contributions to the nation, making her the second woman after M S Subbulakshmi to receive this award. In 2007, she was decorated with the highest civilian honor in France, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour. Three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, and a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award were among her many achievement awards. In 1974, Lata Mangeshkar became the first Indian to ever perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Lata Mangeshkar Personal Life/ Early Life:

• The legendary singer was born on 28 September 1929 and died on 6 February 2022. In her early years, she was known as Hema Mangeshkar.
• The daughter of a Maharashtrian Brahmin and a Marathi and Konkani musician, Mangeshkar was born in Indore to Deenanath Mangeshkar and his wife Shevanti in 1929.
• The classical singer and theatre actor Deenanath Mangeshkar was her father. A Gujarati woman from Thalner, Shevanti (Sudhamati) was her mother.
• Ganesh Bhatt Navathe Hardikar (Abhisheki), her paternal grandfather, was a priest who performed the abhishekams of the Shiva lingam at the Mangueshi Temple in Goa. Yesubai Rane, her paternal grandmother, was from Goa. A number of Gujarati folk songs were taught to her by her maternal grandmother, including Garbas of Pavagadh.
• As a means of identifying his family with his native town of Mangeshi, Goa, Deenanath adopted the surname Mangeshkar.
• At her birth, her parents named her Hema but later changed it to Lata, a character named Latika in one of her father's plays.
• She was the first child. Among her siblings, Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath are all accomplished musicians and singers.
• It was her father who gave her her first music lesson. She was five when she acted as an actress and appeared in her father's musical plays. As her sister Asha was not allowed to come with her on the first day of school, she left the school on the first day.

Lata Mangeshkar's Music Teachers:

• Deenanath Mangeshkar
• Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the Bhindi Bazaar Gharana taught Hindustani classical music to Lata Mangeshkar.
• Amanat Khan DevaswaleGhulam Haider
• Pandit Tulsidas Sharma

Singing Career of Lata Mangeshkar:

It's ironic that she made her Bollywood debut around the 1940s when heavily nasal-voiced bass singers like Shamshad Begum and Noor Jehan were popular. Her voice was considered high-pitched and thin, so she was rejected from many projects. When her father passed away in 1942, she had the responsibility of taking care of her family and earning income. As a result of economic hardship, she acted in eight Hindi and Marathi films between 1942 and 1948.

First Song of Lata Mangeshkar: For Vasant Joglekar's Marathi film Kiti Hasaal (1942), she sang "Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari", composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar. However, the song was eliminated from the final cut. Pahili Mangalaa-gaur (1942) was a Marathi film directed by Navyug Chitrapat in which she sang "Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai" composed by Dada Chandekar.

Lata Mangeshkar's first Hindi song was for the Marathi film Gajaabhaau (1943) called "Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu".

While she began singing in a manner reminiscent of Noor Jehan, she quickly developed her own style. Her sister, Asha Bhosle, was a playback singer, who also rose to fame in the late 1950s. Together, they held the title of the two biggest queens of Indian playback singers until the 1990s. It was because her voice had such a distinctive quality that music composers finally became able to experiment more freely. She became a hit with all her songs, but C Ramchandra and Madan Mohan were the ones who made her sound her sweetest and who pushed her voice to the limit.

Here are some of her the Most Loved Songs

Lata Mangeshkar’s Most Loved and Hit Songs:

Awards Received Lata Mangeshkar:

Government of India Awards Received by Lata Mangeshkar: Lata Mangeshkar received various prestigious awards over the years from the Indian Government for her contributions, including:

• Padma Bhushan in 1969
• Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1989
• Padma Vibhushan in 1999
• Bharat Ratna in 2001
• "One Time Award for Lifetime Achievement" honour to commemorate the 60th anniversary of India's independence in 2008

Maharashtra State Film Awards Received by Lata Mangeshkar:

• Best Playback Singer for Sadhi Mansa in 1966
• Best Playback Singer for Jait Re Jait in 1977
• Maharashtra Bhushan Award in 1997
• Maharashtra Ratna in 2001 and she was the first recipient.

National Film Awards Received by Lata Mangeshkar:

• Best Female Playback Singer for songs of the film Paricha in 1972
• Best Female Playback Singer for songs of the film Kora Kagaz in 1974
• Best Female Playback Singer for songs of the film Lekin... in 1990

Filmfare Awards Received by Lata Mangeshkar:

• Best Female Playback Singer for the song- "Aaja Re Pardesi" from Madhumati in 1959
• Best Female Playback Singer for the song- "Kahi Deep Jale Kahi Dil" from Bees Saal Baad in 1963
• Best Female Playback Singer for the song- "Tumhi Mere Mandir Tumhi Meri Pooja" from Khandan in 1966
• Best Female Playback Singer for the song- "Aap Mujhe Achhe Lagne Lage" from Jeene Ki Raah in 1970
• Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994
• Filmfare Special Award for "Didi Tera Devar Deewana" from Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! in 1995

Other Awards and Honour Received by Lata Mangeshkar:

• Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievements in 1999
• NTR National Award in 1999
• Legion of Honour in 2007
• ANR National Award in 2007
• 15 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
• Lata Mangeshkar received honorary doctorates from the Shivaji University in Kolhapur, Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya Khairagarh, and Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1989.
• Madhya Pradesh's state government started the Lata Mangeshkar Award in her honor in 1984.
• Maharashtra's government established the Lata Mangeshkar Award in 1992.

Lata Mangeshkar: Lesser Known Facts

• In 1938, her first public performance was at Nutan Theater in Sholapur, where she sang a Marathi song and a raga called Raag Khambavati.
• As a child, she lost her father to heart disease in 1942. One of the close friends of the Mangeshkar family at the time, Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), helped her start a career as an actress and singer.
• Master Vinayak's first Hindi film 'Badi Maa' (1945) featured her and her sister Asha in a minor role.
• She achieved her first big hit with the song Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora from the movie Majboor (1948).
• Ghulam Haidar was the "true Godfather" of artist Lata Mangeshkar who trusted her talent, she stated in an interview.
• She took Urdu lessons from Shafi, an Urdu teacher when Dilip Kumar (actor) pointed out her Maharashtrian accent while singing Urdu/Hindi songs.
• From the movie Mahal (1949) came the song 'Aayega Aanewala,' which made her extremely popular. Lata's performance of this song is said to be one of the most beautiful renditions of the song in the music community, and everyone agrees it is one of the most difficult songs to sing.
• Lata sang a patriotic song on 27 January 1963 during the Sino-Indian war, 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo'. The number of songs she sang for Laxmikant Pyarelal (712) was maximum.
• The first movie for which she composed music was Ram Ram Pavhan in 1955
• According to an interview she gave, two of her unfulfilled dreams were meeting K L Saigal and singing for Dilip Kumar.
• It is believed that during her career she has recorded more than 50.000 songs in 14 different languages.
• She turned down the proposal to become a member of parliament (Rajya Sabha) in 1999 because her opinion was that actors Rekha and Sachin Tendulkar would do better than her.
• As a tribute to her contributions to Indian music, the Government of India honored her with the title "Daughter of the Nation" on her 90th birthday in 2019.